The Swiftest River and the Highest Banks
by Elfytype
Summary: (Chapter 2 is up) A romance bwtween to elves that we know and love....not slash.. do r/r please
1. Conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas, Arwen, Elrond, Thranduil, Rivendell, or Mirkwood, but I do own Narius and Lelandiel. Thanks for noticing.

Author's Note: Okay...this will be a VERY long note. 

Okay, where to start...okay. This takes place in an alternate reality of Middle Earth where the LOTR thing never happened and will never happen and Aragorn is not in the picture. This is a romance story and these changes had to be made for it to run smoothly. When you read I would love for you to review, but no flames please. I would like honest opinions from a neutral perspective. Thank you. Do enjoy!

The Swiftest River and the Highest Banks

Chapter 1

"Conversations"

"Legolas," came the soft voice of the auburn-haired elf Narius, as he slid a large knapsack from his horse's back. After receiving no immediate response, he glanced over his shoulder to see if he would be graced with is Elirium's* acknowledgement.

"Hmm.?" Came Legolas' distracted response as another spark flew from the two stones between his hands into the small pile of kindling before him, yet again to no avail.

"Legolas, what do you think of all this?" Inquired Narius.

Finally succeeding in igniting the kindling, Legolas sat back and looked to Narius questioningly for a moment before realizing what had been asked. "Oh, what do I think? Of what?"

"All of this!" Replied Narius. "Of Lady Evanstar. You've been mightily quiet about the whole matter since we left Mirkwood."

Legolas smiles mischievously. "Well, Narius, the Men have a saying. 'If you have nothing pleasant to say, then say nothing at all.'"

Narius chuckled and shook his head gently as he came to rest beside his life-long friend. "Surely Legolas, with a woman renown as the most beautiful in all of Middle-Earth, things cannot be all bad, hmm?" He asked.

Legolas smiled. "True." He said. "Very true. But you must believe that one of such beauty would be equally conceited, Narius. Why, she probably sits transfixed with her reflextion in the mirror, gawking lovingly at her sparklingly radiant eyes and her hair as it shimmers with all the beauty of the night sky."

"You seem more interested than not." Narius pointed out.

Legolas scoffed. "And let the mirror grace her presence more than I?" He deftly tossed a stray pebble into the now roaring campfire, causing a brief fountain of sparks. "Please!" He said with a role of his storm-gray eyes.

*************

"What, pray-tell, are you so jubilant about?" Taking hold of her horse's slender neck for leverage, Lady Arwen Evanstar turned slightly to regard her handmaiden, Lelandiel, whose youthful face was beaming with a happy light.

Lelandiel smiled more broadly. "How can you not be my Lady?"

"Who could I possibly have to be so joyous about? Tell me, please." Arwen smiled mockingly.

Lelandiel breathed pointedly but with a smile gracing her slender face. "Come now, my Lady. Surely you jest. You know very well."

Arwen smiled, but decided to play naive. "Do I?" She asked coyly.

Lelandiel chuckled and shook her head. "Oh my Lady, you are impossible! I speak of fair Legolas Elirium of course!"

Arwen's features darkened. "What of him?" She asked curtly.

"Why, he is only renown as the most handsome suitor Mirkwood has to offer." Lelandiel said. "I've heard he's rather striking," she smiled at her own pun. "And rather good with a bow as well."

Arwen rolled her crystalline eyes and swung herself gracefully onto her horse's back. She then looked down to regard her handmaiden, looking grave. "Yes, Lelandiel, he may be handsome, but I do not know him. I do not know, even who he surely is."

"That is true, my Lady, but you have the rest of your live to learn-"

"To learn what?" Arwen interrupted, looking suddenly angry. "That his archery targets that look so much like the backside of a porcupine shall grace his lordly presence more than I, his Lady shall? You think I should settle for this? Please!" With that, she turned her horse and cantered away.


	2. Meeting

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

The Swiftest River and the Highest Banks

Chapter 2: Meeting

Legolas glanced around the beautiful, yet sparsely decorated royal guest chamber in which he and Narius were to stay. I was furnished with a goose feather canopy bed along one wall. Adjacent to this wall was a wall featuring a huge balcony window with a bench seat. Also along this wall was a smaller bed for a personal servant. All other furnishings included a wash basin, a small table with two ornately carved chairs, and a fireplace opposite the wall upon which lay the canopy bed. Their traveling goods had been placed nonchalantly upon the large bed upon arrival.

As Legolas paced about the room, he began to wonder what was keeping Narius. He had sent him to inform Lord Elrond that he and Narius, road-worn and weary, would take dinner in their room this evening, and he should have returned by now.

He stepped into the corridor beyond the room's threshold and stopped, looking first left then right. Every winding hall in this place looked the same. He'd never find his way through the House without a guide. He then realized what was holding Narius.

The sound of approaching footsteps shook Legolas from his reverie. He looked up in time to see a young elven maiden approaching from the left. She paused to look at him and met his eyes. Her hair was long and lustrous and flowed over her shoulders like a fiver of midnight. Her eyes were gemstones. She was dressed in an ordinary handmaiden's dress the color of autumn twilight. Legolas smiled to himself. _If this is the beauty of Rivendell's handmaidens, then Lady Arwen shall surely stop the beat of my heart, _he thought.

The maiden returned his gaze for a moment but did not smile. She then turned and opened the door to her right to enter.

Legolas came back to himself and realized the maiden would know where he was going. "Wait!" He called to her and she paused to regard him.

"Yes?" She asked, and her voice was lilting and melodic.

Legolas paused for a second to recover from just the utterance of that one word, and then he approached her and continued. "I believe you can help me." He said.

"I will try," the maiden replied curtly.

It was in that moment that Legolas realized that this servant girl had no idea who he was. He smiled and decided to play upon that. Oh, how he loved to see their faces when they learned his name. "Good," he said. "That's all I ask." He then sighed. "I am looking for an archer from Mirkwood by the name of Narius. Have you seen him?"

The maiden's brow furrowed in confusion. "I do not know of any archer from Mirkwood. Who is he?" She asked. Looking suspicious.

"He is a servant of Legolas Elirium, I believe. They were to arrive this morning." Legolas said matter-of-factly.

The maiden's eyes narrowed. "The Mirkwood Prince has never before been to Rivendell. How would you know him or his servants? And also, you seen strange to me. I have not before seen you. Who are you?"

Legolas smiled smugly. "I shall answer both questions with one answer. I know him and his servants because I am he."

The maiden's eyebrows rose, the fell into an expression lost somewhere between anger and amusement. Her face reflected his smug sneer. He bowed shortly. "A pleasure, Legolas Elirium. I am Arwen Evanstar."

Now it was Legolas' turn to be baffled. She had turned his fun back on him and he had not had a clue.

The bother turned toward the left corridor from which the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard.

Arwen smiled as Narius turned into the corridor. "Well, Elirium, I believe that is whom you were seeking. It was a pleasure, but I must go. I will see you at dinner." With that she turned and entered the room she had attempted to before.

Legolas nodded, dumbfounded, and looked to Narius as he approached. "Dinner?" He asked. "I thought I sent you-"

"Yes, Legolas," Narius interjected. "But Lord Elrond insists."

Legolas sighed.


End file.
